Speed Walking with Ona

As I was starting my morning walk, Ona was walking past the entrance so I walked with her. That lasted about 5 minutes; she walks very fast! I was winded trying to keep up with her going uphill, so I sent her on her way. But I caught up with her on the downhill side of the circle; she was talking to Caroline & Olive. It turns out Caroline is trying to downsize due to having an empty nest. She'll have it on the market for 6 months, if it doesn't sell she will be staying; we joked about moving in with her if that happens! Ona went to the open house last weekend, she suggested I do the same to get a look at the view.

Nine minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Seven minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

When I got in Dad was awake with his breakfast in front of him; he had not eaten anything. He was reading the meal ticket; he did that for another 30 minutes or so. I have noticed this week that he has been spending more time reading the meal tickets; previously he only did it every so often. This week he has done it almost every meal. I asked RN Fred to ask the CNAs to put the meal ticket on the night stand so he can't see it; I will also talk to the CNAs about it. He ate only a couple bites of his fried egg sandwich but he drank 480 ml of Breeze supplement (2 boxes).

It got cloudier before my mid-morning walk so it was more comfortable, though there was still hardly any breeze. Only problem was that I forgot to charge my phone; it was at 11% when I started my walk! So I only used the walking app and skipped birding; I would have had a hard time seeing the screen anyway since it automatically darkens the screen as the power drops. When I was almost done a woman who was walking in the opposite direction asked me if I knew where Niele Place was; I didn't, but I told her I was sure my phone did. The phone did know but it was so weak shortly after it found the street it went very dim; I had to ask it to show directions so we could see where she had to go to get back to the Air B'n'B she was staying at. She was about a mile away & would have to walk about 17 minutes to get back; fortunately it was all downhill. My phone was at 2% by the time I got back to Maunalani & plugged it in!


I really wanted to see a Manu-o-Kū during my mid-morning cool down stretches! I kept thinking I saw one when a light gray Zebra Dove would fly in the vicinity where I was expecting the Manu-o-Kū to be flying. After I finished my stretches I figured out how much longer I could stay and look for them before I needed to go & change before lunch. Did not see them before I had to leave.

Lunch today was Pork fried rice, Pacific vegetable mix, Tossed salad, Fresh strawberries, and Egg drop soup; I requested the alternate meal of Hamburger on bun and skipped eating the bun. Dad ate all of his 1/2 peanut butter & jelly sandwich and a couple pieces of strawberry; he drank all 240 ml of the Breeze supplement. (I forgot to take a photo.)

By my afternoon walk even more clouds had moved in, I think it is the front they predicted last night. It was a very pleasant walk. Along the way I saw a car parked near one of the trees that I think the Manu-o-Kū might be nesting in; it had some bird splat on the windshield that looked like it might be from a Manu-o-Kū. I will see if I can send it to Rich and see what he thinks. I also saw a new house being built on Sierra Drive, it is at the lot where they have been working on the rock wall since Dad arrived at Maunalani.

This looks like the photo of Manu-o-Kū droppings that is in the volunteer training packet.

The house under construction.

I took the RAV4 in for its annual safety check, which is needed for the annual registration. I took it to McKinley Car Wash, you don't need an appointment; it's first-come, first-served. And it's usually very fast. The RAV4 passed with flying colors! Then I went to Safeway to use the DMV Registration kiosk, it was amazingly easy.

Safety check at McKinley Car Wash.

The DMV Registration kiosk.

On the way back from the safety check I saw 2 Manu-o-Kū! They were in trees along Kapiʻolani that were marked with the blue "White Tern Tree" tape. If you can't find them, come back tomorrow and I will have photos posted with arrows.

I was actually taking a photo of the nest in the lower right and later found the Manu-o-Kū in the upper left.

You should be able to find this one in the center of the photo.

When I got home there was still time to pick papayas. I harvested 9 papayas today. I kept 1 and gave 6 to Curtis. I kept 2 for Lois, she's coming to pick them up tomorrow.


Luna has become more cuddly; she lets me pick her up for about 15 seconds of cuddling. Which is a whole lot more than she allowed before. She will actually come to the door & wait for me when I come home; I know its not for food because I only feed them when The Roommates will not be home for a day which has been only 2 or 3 times since she came to live with us. She wants to cuddle in the morning, too. I have to set up a barrier of containers to keep her away from my contacts in the morning.

Here's my Luna excluder.

I forgot to mention yesterday that RN Fred told me that his son has been selected to be one of the students who will be on a special round-the-island sailing of the Hokuleʻa in April! We should be able to see them from Maunalani when they pass by Lēʻahi; Fred will be off that day so I will have to find out from him about what time they might be passing by.

I also forgot to mention that I learned something very interesting yesterday. And so did LPN Chivas, who has been a nurse for less than a month now. Yesterday Chivas went to wake one of the residents to give him his medication. When the resident woke up he was very disoriented, could not move well, had difficulty responding, and was non-verbal. He called RN Fred, concerned that the resident was having a medical issue; they worked with him for about 15 minutes before Fred said nothing new was wrong with the resident. It turns out that people who have previously had a stroke, like this resident, take a lot longer to get back to their now normal level of functioning when they wake up. What Chivas was seeing is the normal process that a person who previously had a stroke goes through when they wake up. I'll have to remember that if I have to help with someone who has previously had a stroke.

At my weigh-in this morning I again gained weight! I think it is the 2 dinners that is doing it! Since Jenny is back from Japan, Curtis will be doing the evening shift again. I anticipate I will be able to get back to losing weight next week!

Just finished watching a movie as I wrote this. I came in about 15 minutes after it started and I didn't know what the title was. But I really loved the twist in the plot so I tracked it down; its called Identity and stars John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and Amanda Peet. I think it was better because I missed the first part, I started watching when the limo driver & actress are stuck in a rain storm which has caused a flood that strands everyone at a small rundown motel. If you decide to watch it, I suggest skipping the first 15 minutes.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to Ern Dog, Kektadose, & Leigh!